Hiding in Shadows (Tsubori / Eevachu)

Darkness... The veil of a cloudy moonless night. The only light to pierce the black was that of the few lantern posts sparsely dotting the street. This was the natural habitat of Crane, the elusive demon of the night, preying upon the fear and suffering of others, for no more than words in a journal and more knowledge. The shadowy cloaked figure billowed like smoke in a sky with no wind, simply watching the world below from atop a small inn in the slums. 

The Crane lived for this, as it was the sole purpose of it's existence. Eliciting fear from the hearts of the meek was the sole hobby of the dark beast. Today it had targeted a man who just stepped out of a bar with four friends. Upon the man branching off on his own and walking beneath the lanterns, the Crane could see him clearly. Mid twenties, as were the other four, but that was of no matter. He looked particularly hardy, though it wasn't sure that would really have any effect. He would fear like the others, and break like them too. 

Climbing quietly down a ladder, the Crane cut through alleyways and side areas to get in front of this man. When it cut back out, looking onto the street ahead, there he was. Walking towards it, this guy was counting something in his palm, but the agent of fear didn't care much, chanting in a whisper for a moment as it's dark mist spread from beneath the billowing cloaks. Enveloping the man as he walked through, he looked around confusedly for a moment before coughing deeply. 

Retreating back to the alleyway, now the demon only watched, pulling out a journal for taking notes. Quickly the victim fell into hysterical fits seeing things that weren't there until he screamed, throwing himself to the ground and clawing at his own skin, tearing into it with his nails. He yelled out a few obvious things, such as "They're all over me!" and "Get them off!" So typical. It usually implied some sort of insect or arachnid, usually spiders, worms or scarabs.

Now walking from the alleyway out to the panicked man, the Crane prepared it's strange, distorted voice. "What's all over you?" It asked, patting the man's pockets and finding ID, adding the information to it's findings. 

"The spiders! Get them off, please!" He was bleeding very badly from his forearms, having torn his own flesh apart in an attempt to banish these arachnid apparitions. 

Just as the Crane was about to ask more questions, a hand reached around the short frame, stabbing it in the gut with a dagger. The good thing about the cloaks were that combined, they all created a decent protection. The dagger, however, penetrated deep, getting a few inches into living flesh as the specter gave a very human-like whimper of pain. 

Thinking they'd done the job, group of her victim's three friend slamned the crane against a wall. It heard many shouts towards it, asking what the monster had done to their friend. Adrenaline.... The sweet, beautiful drug, natural in fear. Especially when having been stabbed deeply by a blade. 

The Crane thrust its index claw upward, pushing right into the delicate arm flesh of the man holding it and pulling out immediately. It's attacker recoiled, allowing the shadow to slip away into an alleyway. The three followed into what would have been a trap were the Crane not currently bleeding it's lifeblood onto the streets below. It was beyond focus, and far past logic. It stumbled out onto the empty street a few alleyways over, still able to hear the terrifying men behind it. 

Before the Crane could move another street over, the world beneath it started shaking. No... Not the world... Its legs... Collapsing with a hand on it's wound, the Crane shuffled itself against a building, a streak of blood on the ground marking the way.